Jamaica Gleaner / The Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) is greatly saddened by the passing of the highly esteemed and treasured Dr David Boxer, former chief curator emeritus of the National Gallery of Jamaica and himself an artist whose achievements are consistently innovative.

Before being hired as director/curator at the fledgling National Gallery in 1975, Dr Boxer served as guest curator for ‘Ten Jamaican Sculptors’, an exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute, London, and at Devon House, where the National Gallery was then located. He served the National Gallery for more than three decades, elevating it to enviable heights within the anglophone Caribbean.

Dr Boxer also served as jurist and on many committees and boards, including the Council of the Institute of Jamaica. His large body of publications include journal essays, book chapters and books covering artists as diverse as Karl Abrahams, John Dunkley, Edna Manley and Cecil Baugh. His narratives include Art in Five Centuries: Art in Jamaica Since the Discovery .

Dr Boxer’s teaching experience included being a visiting fellow at the prestigious John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Among his awards were the Gold Musgrave Medal and the Order of Jamaica, an upgrade from the previously bestowed Order of Jamaica Commander Class.

Through his keen intellect, artistic insight, nationalist resolve and appealing personality, David effectively built the important national collection of art and photography. He established an exhibition formula that has earned the gallery high regard and appreciation from international art lovers and collectors across the island.

A visionary curator, Dr Boxer championed the recognition of self-taught artists, arguing for their status as intuitive rather that primitive or naÔve, He amassed works of emerging artists and of modern and historic photographs, reasoning that the genre is an art form which should be widely collected. During his tenure, he also organised many exhibition, virtually all accompanied by a catalogue.

According IOJ Executive Director Vivian Crawford, “His accomplishments at the National Gallery are immense, while as an artist his prodigious output represents an individual whose creative impulses, intellectual rigour and philosophical awareness are immeasurable; Dr Boxer has left an enormous legacy.”

san fernando Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley prayed with members of the Muslim community and distributed zakat (charity) to the needy as he celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr at two masjids in San Fernando yesterday. He attended the Eid services on an invitation from Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein, who is also referred to as a…

gasparillo The mother of a disabled child was shot dead inside her apartment in Gasparillo yesterday. Ornella Philips, 28, was shot once in the chest. Her body was discovered lying in the living room around 10 a.m. The country’s murder toll now stands at 243. Her eight-year-old daughter, Kayla, has cerebral palsy and depends…

ISTANBUL (AP): Turkish police stopped activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights from gathering in large numbers for an LGBT Pride event in Istanbul yesterday, but smaller groups made impromptu press statements, defying a ban imposed by the governor. Organisers of the 2017 Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride had vowed to march in central Taksim…

LONDON (AP): The list of high-rise apartment towers in Britain that have failed fire-safety tests grew to 60, officials said yesterday, revealing the mounting challenge the government faces in the aftermath of London’s Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. All of the buildings for which external cladding samples were so far submitted failed combustibility tests, Communities Secretary…

BAHAWALPUR (AP): Alerted by an announcement over a mosque’s loudspeaker that an overturned tanker truck had sprung a leak, scores of villagers raced to the scene with fuel containers yesterday to gather the oil. Then the wreck exploded, engulfing people in flames as they screamed in terror. At least 153 men, women and children were…

WASHINGTON (AP): Making a final push, United States President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare”. Expressing frustration, he complained about “the level of hostility” in government and wondered why both parties can’t work together on the Senate bill…

While reliving the horrors experienced by so many families after another spate of bizarre violence across the country last week, I couldn’t help but picture Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett’s rictus grin plastered on television screens while the elderly and even suckling babes were being gruesomely slaughtered inside their homes. While the rest of us were…

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The trinidad Guardian / Bridgemans Services Group vice-president Andrew Purdey is hoping his company will be treated fairly at tender evaluation process for the selection of a new passenger vessel for the sea bridge. The company’s tender of the controversial Ocean Flower 2 was among eleven others received by the Port Authority of T&T (PATT)…

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The trinidad Guardian / Prisons FC became the first team to be officially promoted to the Trinidad and Tobago Super League – League One on Saturday after a thrilling 4-2 victory at YTC Arouca against Petit Valley/Diego Martin Utd (PVDMU). Prior to kick off, the match was set up as a winner take all encounter,…

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The trinidad Guardian / Former national defender Marvin Andrews remains a hero at Scottish club Glasgow Rangers. This was evident after the club has presented their supporters with an opportunity to hear first-hand the memories of a true Rangers great with an Ibrox Tour hosted by Marvin Andrews on September 28th. As fans tour behind…

The trinidad Guardian / Four businesses under one company-JMH Enterprise Limited-at the Trincity Industrial Estate went up in flames on Sunday night. Owner Christopher James said yesterday his losses are estimated to run “well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.” He said eight trucks, three vans, four cars and equipment were all destroyed in…

The trinidad Guardian / Customer service at all government offices must be improved, along with flexible working hours and regulated lunch breaks. These are some of the wishes rounding out the American Chamber of T&T’s (AmChamTT) budget submissions for 2017/2018 under the area of Ease of Doing Business. While the Chamber acknowledges the challenges that…

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The trinidad Guardian / Battlecry came through to cause a major upset on the Arima Race Club’s (ARC) Republic Day card when the John O’Brien trained three-year-old colt beat overwhelming favourite, Bigman In Town in the feature Grade One – Caribbean Champion Stakes over 1,800 metres. In winning the Champion Stakes, O’Brien and Battlecry stopped…

The trinidad Guardian / The Embassy of the Republic of Korea has announced that this year’s National Foundation Day will be celebrated on October 3, 2017. A release from the Embassy said it is organising Korea Week 2017 with a series of events during the first week of October, which will be open to the…

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The trinidad Guardian / One person told me to my face that my belief that women will play the most significant role in global development in the future is baloney. I have also been told it goes against religious and societal norms and values. I am committed to driving strategic change for women in sport…

The trinidad Guardian / Founder and principal of the Rio Claro Learning and Development Centre for Special Children, Kellyann Pascall, together with her staff and students, started the new school term with a newly built Centre courtesy the Digicel Foundation. A release said the Digicel Foundation invested $1.2 million to rebuild the school which houses…

The trinidad Guardian / Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon is calling for cooperation between regional and international partners as greater efforts are made to address security issues affecting Latin America, the Caribbean and the wider global community. Speaking at the Caribbean Security Forum hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI)…

The trinidad Guardian / The 12th T&T Film Festival closes with a spectacular bang today, with a terrific and groundbreaking film selection that was not picked before only because of the limitations of programming schedules. For many people, this will be the film of the festival. Today’s film is: Melocotones aka (Canned) Peaches (Dominican Republic,…

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The trinidad Guardian / Diego Martin mother Carol Noel was overwhelmed with grief yesterday, after learning the man who was killed when a falling tree crashed into a car at Granville beach on Sunday was her son, Joshua Grannum. According to reports she received, Grannum, 23, was seated in a silver Nissan AD Wagon talking…

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The trinidad Guardian / At this point, nobody in T&T can say they didn’t know what would happen. The consequences of natural disaster in nations both well prepared and marginally ready are writ large across headlines and leading broadcasts the world over the last two weeks. Despite our most vocal protestations that “God is a…

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The trinidad Guardian / Responding to the call made by a 97-member group led by comedian and media personality Errol Fabien, the public, corporate T&T and local and regional soca artistes and deejays showed just how big a heart T&T has on Sunday at the One Caribbean Relief Concert at the Queen’s Park oval, Port-of-Spain….

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The trinidad Guardian / LONDON Captain Jason Holder believes West Indies can still take a share of the five-match One-Day International series against England despite losing two of the first three games. Speaking following the Caribbean side’s 124-run defeat at Bristol on Sunday, Holder said the Windies needed to execute better in the remaining games…

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The trinidad Guardian / In a move worthy of the Monty Python comedy group at their sublime best, the T&T Defence Force (TTDF) has come up with a list of things that they say the people of Dominica desperately need, that beggars the imagination. After conducting a critical needs assessment on the ground, the TTDF…

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The trinidad Guardian / Bridgemans Services Group vice-president Andrew Purdey is hoping his company will be treated fairly at tender evaluation process for the selection of a new passenger vessel for the sea bridge. The company’s tender of the controversial Ocean Flower 2 was among eleven others received by the Port Authority of T&T (PATT)…

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The trinidad Guardian / The body of a 48-year-old man was found lying on a river bank in Williamsville yesterday morning. Police suspect that Nowray Rooplal, of Dharamdass Trace, St Julien Road, Princes Town, may have fallen into the river and drowned. However, investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy at the Forensic Sciences…